Method and system for processing queries requiring coordinated access to distributed databases

Abstract

A method and system for coordinating customer access to a distributed database system, such as a financial services system database pool containing various sources of different types of data, receives as input a user query, such as a query related to the status of financial transactions. The query is processed to determine the types of data required to satisfy the query and the target data sources containing such data. Discrete sub-queries are formulated and issued to the identified target data sources. The retrieved data is combined to generate a response to the query which is formatted and returned to the requestor, preferably in the form of an Internet web page.

What is claimed is:  
     
         1 . In a system in communication with a database pool having a plurality of data sources therein, each data source containing information of a respective type, a method of processing user queries to the system comprising the steps of: 
 receiving a user query via an electronic network;    determining types of data required to satisfy the query;    identifying target data sources from the plurality of data sources that contain information of the determined types;    retrieving data from the target data sources;    combining the retrieved data to generate a response to the query; and    returning the response to the user.    
     
     
         2 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein the step of retrieving data from the identified sources comprises the steps of: 
 generating a sub-query for each target data source;    issuing the sub-queries to the respective target data sources; and    receiving responses from the respective target data sources for the issued sub-queries.    
     
     
         3 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein: 
 each data source has a respective data query format;    the sub-queries have a substantially common data query format; and    the step of issuing the sub-queries comprises the step of converting each sub-query from the common data query format to the data query format for the respective target data source.    
     
     
         4 . The method of  claim 2 , further comprising the step of monitoring the status of issued sub-queries; 
 the step of combining the retrieved data being performed after a response has been received for each issued sub-query.    
     
     
         5 . The method of  claim 2 , wherein each sub-query is issued by a separate processing thread, each processing thread providing a notification when the respective sub-query is satisfied by the corresponding target data source.  
     
     
         6 . The method of  claim 1 , wherein: 
 the system comprises a financial transaction processing system and    the user queries relate to the status of financial transactions.    
     
     
         7 . The method of  claim 6 , wherein the financial transactions comprise currency exchange transactions.  
     
     
         8 . The method of  claim 7 , wherein the database pool comprises: 
 a data source for reference information;    a data source for account information;    a data source for trading information; and    a data source for trade payment instruction information.    
     
     
         9 . A computer implemented system for processing queries requiring access to a plurality of data sources each of which contains information of a respective type, the system comprising: 
 a data access module in communication with the plurality of data sources and configured to: 
 receive a query object in a predefined format as input,  
 identify a set of target data sources in accordance with a class of the query object,  
 retrieve data from the target data sources,  
 aggregate the retrieved data, and  
 provide the aggregated data as output; and  
   a data request handler module in communication with the data access module and configured to: 
 receive a data query as input;  
 generate the query object in the predefined format from the data query;  
 provide the query object to the data access module;  
 receive the aggregated data from the data access module;  
 process the aggregated data to produce a response to the query; and  
 provide the response as output.  
   
     
     
         10 . The system of  claim 9 , further comprising: 
 a presentation module configured to: 
 receive via a network a data request from a user as input;  
 generate a data query in accordance with the data request;  
 provide the data query to the data request handler module;  
 receive the response from the data request handler module;  
 and output the response to the user via the network.  
   
     
     
         11 . The system of  claim 10 , wherein the presentation module comprises: 
 a plurality of data servlets, each data servlet configured to produce an appropriate data query in response to a particular type of data request; and    a controller servlet configured to determine the type of the data request and forward the data request to the appropriate data servlet.    
     
     
         12 . The system of  claim 11 , wherein each data servlet is further configured to receive respective responses to forwarded data requests.  
     
     
         13 . The system of  claim 12 , wherein the presentation module further comprises a plurality of server pages, each server page being associated with a respective data servlet and configured to receive the respective response from the associated data servlet and generate a corresponding document including the respective response.  
     
     
         14 . The system of  claim 13 , wherein a particular servlet has a plurality of associated server pages, the particular servlet being configured to provide the respective response to one of the associated server pages in accordance with a data type of the response.  
     
     
         15 . The system of  claim 13 , wherein the document comprises an Internet web page.  
     
     
         16 . The system of  claim 9 , wherein the data access module comprises: 
 a plurality of data manager objects, each data manager configured to retrieve data from a respective data source;    a storage area having query classification data stored therein; and    a data source manager receiving the query object as input, and configured to: 
 identify the particular ones of the plurality of data sources from which data should be retrieved in accordance with the query classification data, and  
 dispatch a respective data retrieval request derived from the query object to the particular data manager objects configured to retrieve data from the identified data sources.  
   
     
     
         17 . The system of  claim 16 , further comprising a synchronization module configured to aggregate data retrieved from the respective data manager objects.  
     
     
         18 . The system of  claim 16 , wherein each data manager object comprises a respective data manger interface configured to receive data retrieval requests from the data source manager in a common format.  
     
     
         19 . The system of  claim 16 , wherein the classification data comprises query mapping data associating particular types of queries with specific data sources.  
     
     
         20 . The system of  claim 19 , wherein the classification data further comprises query distribution data associating, for a complex query having a plurality parts, particular query parts with particular data sources.  
     
     
         21 . The system of  claim 9 , wherein the data sources containing various information related to financial transactions and the query relates to the status of at least one financial transaction.  
     
     
         22 . The system of  claim 21 , wherein the financial transactions comprise currency exchange transactions.  
     
     
         23 . The system of  claim 22 , wherein the plurality of data sources comprise: 
 a data source for reference information;    a data source for account information;    a data source for trading information; and    a data source for trade payment instruction information.    
     
     
         24 . A method for processing user queries to a financial transaction processing system, data required to satisfy the queries being stored in a database pool having a plurality of data sources therein each containing information of a respective type, the data sources including data sources for reference information, account information, trading information, and trade payment instruction information, the method comprising the steps of: 
 receiving via an electronic network a user query related to the status of financial transactions managed by the financial transaction processing system;    determining types of data required to satisfy the query;    identifying target data sources from the plurality of data sources that contain information of the determined types;    retrieving data from the target data sources;    combining the retrieved data to generate a response to the query; and    returning the response to the user.    
     
     
         25 . The method of  claim 24 , wherein the step of retrieving data from the identified sources comprises the steps of: 
 generating a sub-query for each target data source;    issuing the sub-queries to the respective target data sources; and    receiving responses from the respective target data sources for the issued sub-queries.    
     
     
         26 . The method of  claim 25 , wherein: 
 each data source has a respective data query format;    the sub-queries have a substantially common data query format; and    the step of issuing the sub-queries comprises the step of converting each sub-query from the common data query format to the data query format for the respective target data source.    
     
     
         27 . The method of  claim 25 , further comprising the step of monitoring the status of issued sub-queries; 
 the step of combining the retrieved data being performed after a response has been received for each issued sub-query.    
     
     
         28 . The method of  claim 25 , wherein each sub-query is issued by a separate processing thread, each processing thread providing a notification when the respective sub-query is satisfied by the corresponding target data source.  
     
     
         29 . A computer implemented system for processing queries issued to a financial transaction processing system related to the status of financial transactions, the queries requiring access to a plurality of data sources each containing information of a respective type, the data sources including data sources for reference information, account information, trading information, and trade payment instruction information, the system comprising: 
 a data access module in communication with the plurality of data sources and configured to: 
 receive a query object in a predefined format as input,  
 identify a set of target data sources in accordance with a class of the query object,  
 retrieve data from the target data sources,  
 aggregate the retrieved data, and  
 provide the aggregated data as output; and  
   a data request handler module in communication with the data access module and configured to: 
 receive a data query as input;  
 generate the query object in the predefined format from the data query;  
 provide the query object to the data access module;  
 receive the aggregated data from the data access module;  
 process the aggregated data to produce a response to the query; and  
 provide the response as output.  
   
     
     
         30 . The system of  claim 29 , further comprising: 
 a presentation module configured to: 
 receive via a network a data request from a user as input;  
 generate a data query in accordance with the data request;  
 provide the data query to the data request handler module;  
 receive the response from the data request handler module;  
 and output the response to the user via the network.  
   
     
     
         31 . The system of  claim 29 , wherein the data access module comprises: 
 a plurality of data manager objects, each data manager configured to retrieve data from a respective data source;    a storage area having query classification data stored therein; and    a data source manager receiving the query object as input, and configured to: 
 identify the particular ones of the plurality of data sources from which data should be retrieved in accordance with the query classification data, and  
 dispatch a respective data retrieval request derived from the query object to the particular data manager objects configured to retrieve data from the identified data sources.  
   
     
     
         32 . The system of  claim 31 , further comprising a synchronization module configured to aggregate data retrieved from the respective data manager objects.  
     
     
         33 . The system of  claim 31 , wherein each data manager object comprises a respective data manger interface configured to receive data retrieval requests from the data source manager in a common format.  
     
     
         34 . The system of  claim 31 , wherein the classification data comprises query mapping data associating particular types of queries with specific data sources.  
     
     
         35 . The system of  claim 34 , wherein the classification data further comprises query distribution data associating, for a complex query having a plurality parts, particular query parts with particular data sources.